Download the best hands-on demos and talks from Linux.conf.au

Linux.conf.au is done and dusted for another year, and being the caring and sharing open source types that they are, they’ve kindly recorded all the talks and tutorials which were given to share with the world wide web.
You can browse the topics and download them here – OGG is the video, SPX is the audio. If you’re in a Windows environment, you can use the open source app VLC to view the OGG files.

Of particular interest to the Lifehacker crowd would be:

An Introduction to Open Source Animation by Elizabeth Garbee (video file, audio file)

Create your own open source dance mat by Tamara Olliver(video file, audio file)

Joining Second Life to the Real World by Jonathan Oxer (video file part 1, video file part 2)

I was really bummed to have missed Jonathan Oxer’s Second Life tutorial because of a scheduling clash. I’m so glad it’s online! Basically he shows you how to spend around $55 on some hardware which will let you use control objects in Second Life and use Second Life to make changes in the real world! Here’s the synposis to tell you more about how it works:

“This tutorial will show specific techniques and examples for linking
real-world objects into the Second Life environment so that changes in
the real world can be reflected in SL and vice versa. Examples will
include a virtual letterbox in SL that shows whether your physical
letterbox contains mail and a virtual thermostat in SL that controls a
real air conditioner. Participants will have the option of either
providing their own parts or purchasing a bundled kit for about $55
which will include an Arduino microcontroller that will be used during
the tutorial to create a custom hardware interface to control objects
in SL, and allow SL objects to control devices and appliances in the
real world.”